St. Paul: 2 dead, driver charged after car hits parked truck

Two men died in a car crash in St. Paul early Friday, Feb. 15, after leaving a bar where they and their driver had been celebrating Valentine's Day, according to police.

The driver, Teng Vang, 21, of St. Paul, was charged Friday with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in Ramsey County District Court.

Teng Vang was driving a 1996 Honda Civic when it struck the back of a parked, unoccupied pickup truck in the 1500 block of Hazelwood Street about 2:30 a.m., police said. The car had been traveling "grossly in excess of the 30 mph limit and on the wrong side of the road," according to a criminal complaint.

Two of the car's passengers, Chue Vue, 28, and Tou Vue, 29, died at the scene from head trauma, the complaint said.

The complaint, narrated by a St. Paul police investigator, said Teng Vang was standing behind the Civic when police arrived, talking on the phone. He told police he was the car's driver, the complaint said.

When he refused to get off the phone, he was arrested "after a struggle" and placed in an ambulance. In the ambulance, the complaint said, Teng Vang said he had drank "about five Bud Light beers."

Paramedics also took a front-seat passenger, Chee Yang, 30, to Regions Hospital with bruised ribs. He was listed in fair condition Friday afternoon.

Chee Yang told investigators that the group had been "drinking and celebrating Valentine's Day" at Malina's Sports Bar and that he let Teng Vang drive his car.

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Teng Vang gave a blood sample, which will be tested for intoxicants.

Teng Vang was convicted of misdemeanor driving while impaired in St. Paul in 2009. According to court documents in that case, officers saw Vang exit an alley at a high rate of speed without stopping and cross two lanes of traffic into another alley. They followed the vehicle and saw it cross the center line of a residential street.

When asked by officers whether he had been drinking in the 2009 case, he told them "that it did not matter." His blood-alcohol content registered at 0.19, more than twice the legal driving limit of 0.08.

As part of his sentence, he had to undergo chemical-dependency evaluation/treatment and attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel.

Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.

Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461. Follow him on Twitter@SPnoir.